This is a life span study whose objective is to investigate the mental health status of men and women who are engaged in the process of divorce. Although concerned with those at all stages of adult life, the middle-aged and older are of particular interest due to the lack of information available on divorce in the second half of life. The major premise of the study is that the decision to divorce often represents an attempt by the individual to cope with a wide range of potential problems, and that the divorce process has within it the potential for both growth and deterioration. There are two principal lines of inquiry. The first is the identification of individuals at risk. Those who exhibit many signs and symptoms of mental health problems will be contrasted with those who appear to be making a satisfactory adjustment. The second line of inquiry concerns the clarification of the stressors, mediators and responses to the divorce process. Although generally recognized to constitute a severe stress, little is known concerning the sources of distress, how individuals attempt to cope with the stresses, and, especially, the evolving nature of the stress response. The research approach consists of a cross-sequential design with repeated measurements. The proposed study will be the follow-up to a previously-collected sample of 310 men and women aged 20 to 79 . All were interviewed shortly after their marital separations, a time which previous research has identified as generating great disruption. The analytic design allows the research to contrast the stress and the mental health of respondents during the period of separation with their condition approximately two and one-half years later. An important issue to be addressed is whether those who stand at short-term risk of mental disorders are the same people who stand at long-term risk.